Girls’ Water Polo: Newport Harbor falls to Foothill

Some shots missed the cage, others were blocked by a player or the goalie, passes were defended with textbook precision. The Newport Harbor High girls’ water polo team couldn’t get anything going against Foothill.

The Sailors never appeared too frustrated, maybe because it is early in the season. Still, many times the Knights defense appeared dominant in securing a 4-2 nonleague victory in Newport Harbor’s pool.

Coach Bill Barnett knows there’s plenty to work on, yet there is confidence because his teams are known to peak at the end of the season.

He said the Sailors were “slow and lethargic,” as they fell to 1-1.

“I don’t think they did anything extraordinary,” Barnett said. “We just couldn’t move the ball against them. We just couldn’t penetrate the ball into the strike zone to get good shots. Obviously they had something to do with it. They played very good defense.”

Rachael Whitelegge struck first for the Sailors with 3:26 left in the first period. Then Newport Harbor went 21 minutes, 15 seconds without a goal. Chanel Schilling ended the drought with a goal, but the Knights, ranked No. 2 in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 poll, continued to turn away the No. 3-ranked Sailors.

“We’ve been focusing on defense for the last two months,” said Greg Enloe, who assists Coach Jim Brumm. “The girls want to be good. I’m trying to offer them a system that works and we’re running it pretty well.”

Enloe, who played at UC Irvine (two years with Ted Newland), says he has been harping on the importance of defense. It certainly worked against Newport Harbor.

The Sailors even struggled to draw any exclusions.

“We just have to work harder,” Barnett said. “We have to correct the mistakes. We’ll need to watch the tape and see what has to be done to get ready for next week. Battle of the Bay.”

Newport Harbor plays host to Corona del Mar Friday at 6 p.m.